When A.J. Johanson scored on an offensive rebound to open the third quarter — it was Marin Academy's fourth shot of the possession — things looked good for the Wildcats on Saturday as they held a five-point lead over Branson.

But the Bulls didn't stay down long thanks largely to two players who sat out the second quarter because of foul trouble.

With John Broderick scoring 11 of his team-high 17 points in a 2-minute, 52-second span, Branson turned the tide in the period. And when Colin Joyce led a 22-point fourth quarter for the Bulls (7-2) with seven points, the team was on its way to a 55-43 victory in a boys basketball game at the College of Marin.

"We got ourselves in foul trouble with both Colin and John, and I think to some degree, especially in the first half, some others weren't present," Branson coach Bret Tovani said. "Mentally, they were just not available. So when you have things like that happening and we're not all present and you take guys like John and Colin off the floor, it's a problem."

Marin Academy took advantage of its opportunity in the second quarter, outscoring the Bulls by three points to take a three-point lead at halftime. But the Wildcats (4-5) couldn't sustain their success when Broderick got hot and they cooled with 2-for-15 shooting in the third quarter.

"We're still working on talking on defense and I think that was our problem," said Marin Academy's A.J. Johanson, who had game highs with 19 points and 13 points. "We let Broderick score 10 quick ones and that was basically the deciding factor. ... We've just got to play better defense."

"It wasn't necessarily what Branson did to us, it's what we did to ourselves," added Marin Academy coach Neil Caynan. "I mean, we missed gimmes, we missed layups. I mean, sure Broderick did go on that run where he was scoring all those points, but it's that time where we need our A game, it's time to execute. It's not an excuse for us to miss gimmes."

Despite their third-quarter problems, Marin Academy trailed just 33-27 entering the fourth quarter. Unfortunately for the Wildcats, Branson and Joyce didn't take their foot off the accelerator in the fourth period.

Joyce (15 points) said the Bulls' second-half effort — in addition to heating up on offense, they held Marin Academy to 8-for-28 shooting — was satisfying.

"That is what we expect of ourselves, especially defensively," Joyce said. "I think in the first half we were not doing any of the things that we usually practice defensively. In the second half I think we brought it together, and even though we had some foul trouble, we were able to play that defense that we always expect from ourselves."

Tovani said the game, overall, offered more positives than negatives for his team.

"It was good for us to play a team that really wants to kick our butt, a team that has the players that can get that done," Tovani said. "And I think it woke us up a little bit, the first half did. So as an exercise, I think it was important for us to have a game like that."